At first, Karyn thought she could handle it.
She still had the stone. She still had her memories. She still had herself. Jon might have locked her out of his shiny new world, but she told herself she’d be fine. She’d undo the stupid blond hair, shrink her chest back to what it was before, get her old body back. And after a few shaky, whispered wishes in the mirror, she did.
When she looked at herself again, she was normal. She was her.
But a week passed, and she realized she had no one.
Her parents barely spoke to her anymore. They were always “busy,” always tired, always distracted. The house felt like it was shrinking, the walls pressing tighter every night.
She had no friends. Not really. No one texted her. No one asked her to hang out after school. No one cared if she came or went. Without Jon trailing along, without being his one companion in a world that had abandoned him, she was… nothing.
Miserable.
She had thought Jon was the anchor first of all with with trying to carry on living her. That being cut free of him, she migh float higher, finally breathe. But without him, she wasn’t floating. She was drowning.
And every time she opened her phone, she saw him.
His mom’s Instagram was filled with videos of Jonny—not Jon, Jonny—winning race after race. Smiling that bright, sunny smile. Standing on the podium with a medal gleaming against his chest. His teammates mobbed him after every win, hugging him, shouting his name like he was their star.
And later, always later, the camera would turn. His mom would be laughing, cheering, sounding happier than Karyn had ever heard her. Like she had the perfect son she’d always wanted.
Karyn’s chest burned. At first it was jealousy. Then fury. Then something hotter, uglier: betrayal.
She clutched the stone in her hand so hard her fingers ached.
“You… you little backstabber,” she whispered. “You got rid of me. You gave me up.”
Her voice cracked, and tears slipped down her cheeks.
Fine. If Jonny didn’t want her… then she wouldn’t be his forgotten shadow anymore. She wouldn’t be the girl left behind.
She raised the stone, trembling. The words tumbled out of her mouth, raw and unstoppable.
“I wish… I was Jon’s rival.”
The bathroom mirror caught the wildness in her eyes, the streaks of salt on her face.
“I wish we’d swim against each other. That he’d see me as his rival in life, in everything. That I’d be strong in the water, like him. I want to feel the thrill like him, but more exciting, more alive.”
The words spilled faster, her breath hitching.
“I want to be happy with life, even if I don’t have friends. I want people to like me, to want me around. I want to be rich. I want to be good-looking—no, as good-looking as Jonny. The cute little backstabber who threw me away.”
Her voice cracked to a shout, echoing against the bathroom walls.
“And I want to live at a boarding school. Away from my parents who don’t care, who don’t talk to their only kid, me, for crying out loud!”
Her whole body shook. The tears blurred everything into colors and shadows. She clutched the stone to her chest, rocking slightly, and whispered the last words through clenched teeth:
“And… and… and I just want to be loved.”
The words hung in the air like a prayer, like a curse.
The stone pulsed. Light bled between her fingers, searing hot.
There was a flash.
And then she was
